How and When to Involve Crowds in Scientific Research
The Book
This book explores how millions of people can significantly contribute to scientific research with their effort and experience, even if they are not working at scientific institutions and may not have formal scientific training.
Drawing on a strong foundation of scholarship on crowd involvement, this book helps researchers recognize and understand the benefits and challenges of crowd involvement across key stages of the scientific process. Designed as a practical toolkit, it enables scientists to critically assess the potential of crowd participation, determine when it can be most effective, and implement it to achieve meaningful scientific and societal outcomes.
The book also discusses how recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) shape the role of crowds in scientific research and can enhance the effectiveness of crowd science projects.
ISBN: 978 1 80220 430 8
The book is an Open Access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License.
What are the main elements of the book?
Conceptual foundations and basic tools for the design of crowd science and citizen science projects, including the Six Crowd Characteristics, the AKRD Crowd Contribution Matrix, the Crowd Science Paradigms, the 4Q Tool and the Crowd Science Design Canvas.
Step-by-step guides on how crowds (citizens and other societal stakeholder groups) can contribute to different stages of the scientific research process, ranging from identifying and selecing research questions to data collection, data analysis and the diffusion and translation of research findings.
Discussion of key cross-cutting themes, including organizational challenges and potential solutions, as well as issues related to ethics, research integrity, the protection of contributors, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Description and analysis of project examples from a wide range of scientific fields in the natural sciences, social sciences as well as the humanities. Specially developed case studies illustrate the application of the basic tools, complemented by a comprehensive project index.
The Authors
Critical acclaim
Karim Lakhani
Dorothy & Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration and Co-founder & Chair of the Digital, Data and Design (D^3) Institute, Harvard University, USA
‘The growing involvement of crowds in scientific research represents a significant development in how science is conducted. Poetz and Sauermann’s book provides valuable insights into the potential and challenges of crowd participation, effectively combining theoretical frameworks with practical guidance.
By systematically addressing key aspects from problem formulation to data analysis and dissemination, the authors offer essential direction for researchers exploring this approach.
This book will likely influence both academic discourse and research practice in the years ahead.’
Caren Cooper
Professor of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University and Associate Editor-in-Chief of Citizen Science Theory and Practice, USA
‘How and When to Involve Crowds in Scientific Research is a valuable guide to tapping the curious, busy, and creative masses of our species.
Across natural sciences, medicine, social science and humanities, scientists and scholars will find this book an inspiring companion for navigating the benefits and challenges of engaging the public across stages of the research process for the collective benefit of all.’
Ann Majchrzak
Professor Emeritus, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, USA
‘How and When to Involve Crowds in Scientific Research is a must-read for anyone interested in scientific innovation in a wide variety of public and industrial sectors. This book helps the policy maker, the researcher, the chief innovation officer, the strategist, and the tactician to determine how to use crowds in a manner that fosters collaborative innovation about complex problems.
The authors have managed to create a book that is a how-to guide and primer for practitioners, as well as a scholarly depiction of evidence-based research and directions for future research, particularly for including AI when involving crowds.’
Who is this book for and why?
This book provides a structured, evidence-based approach to involving crowds in research. We hope that it will serve as a resource for scientists seeking to leverage the power of crowds but also for policymakers and funding agencies who want to better understand the changing research landscape. The frameworks and tools in the book have been developed and tested in research projects or workshops with various scientists and research groups. This has helped us develop an approach that is both easy to use and applicable across a wide range of disciplines and types of projects. We also provide researchers with complementary materials as free downloads to help them get started with designing their own crowd science projects.
Scientists...
... receive a practical guide to involving citizens and other societal stakeholder groups in their research processes to improve the productivity of their research and consider broader societal impacts. They also gain insights into how new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are transforming crowd participation in research.
Policy makers and funders...
... obtain a comprehensive overview of the topic and learn about key cross-cutting issues, including ethics, artificial intelligence, and guidelines for evaluating when and how involving citizen scientists is meaningful and effective.
Citizen scientists...
... gain an introduction to the topic and best practices, learn what to expect when participating in research projexts, and discover that their contributions are needed across many scientific fields.
Innovation researchers...
... are introduced to the phenomenon, gain insights into current scientific findings on crowd science and citizen science, and learn about future research opportunities in the field.
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the support from many people. We thank the project organizers and crowd members who shared their experiences and insights with us – including successes but also challenges and failures.
We are also grateful to the participants in our Labs for Open Innovation in Science, as well as other initiatives we launched with support from the Austrian National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development through the grant for Open Innovation in Science.
Many of the discussions in this book draw on projects and research studies we have performed with dear colleagues in the fields of management, economics, but also citizen science and related areas. We thank these colleagues and our academic mentors. They have encouraged and fostered our interests in science and crowdsourcing and have equipped us with the methods and tools to do research in these areas for almost two decades. They have also shown us how important it is to reach beyond one’s own academic community to share insights with policy makers and practitioners to help improve science and innovation processes.
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